The Chase
by Akishira
Summary: YAOI. If you hate it don't read it. Cain wants Dias. Dias doesn't know what he wants. Let the chase begin! (Ch.3 uploaded. Scarface bullies Kain! (and Dias kicks ass!))
1. Just out of Reach

The Chase: chapter 1

The Chase: chapter 1

Just Out Of Reach

Dias got up and strolled into the kitchen for the strong cup of tea, that had became something of a survival kit for Kain's nerves, during Scarface's visits of late.

A loud 'thud' from the living quarters had the Black Wing rushing back, just in time to see Scarface mutter a hushed apology as the latter made a quick retreat out the front door.

On the floor was Kain, in a classic dead faint. 

Dias looked heavenwards briefly. "Souma help me." In a way, he expected this. Being Vy Low's best friend could, at times, be very punishing on one's nerves. Dias really and truly pitied G. 

Luckily, for all concerned, Kain seemed to be able to survive the experiences-so far. 

The valle stood, arms crossed, waiting expectedly for G to just get up any moment now and scream Vy Low's fighting name in what Crimson called the 'Scarface is soooooo dead' voice.

A minute, then two passed and Kain still wasn't up. Worried, Dias quickly bent down over G. A few quick slaps to the face produced no reaction. 

"This is not good," Dias mumbled. Placing a palm on G's chest, Dias bent low over Kain's face. Then stopped, pulling up short as he looked at G's face up close, examining him for breathing. 

To his relief, Kain appeared to be doing fine and Dias could feel a pulse, for a moment there, Black Wing thought that Scarface has finally gave G a heart attack. Dias reached out with a hand to tilt Kain's head slightly, observing for any abrasions resulting from the fall, a habit that arose from his years of being Elle's caretaker. Colour was already returning to G's face.

Dias noted, chuckling to himself, that when G woke up, he would be positively red in the face with rage. The Black Wing remained bent silently over G as a hand unconsciously trailed a slow trail down the outline of Kain's face as Dias admired his friend's fine features, the length of his lashes, the fairness of his skin, the softness of his lips….. 

With a shock, Dias clutched the offending hand as if it burned, even as the thought, _'how will they taste'_ flitted across his mind, making the Black Wing blush furiously as he closed his eyes and mentally berated himself. 

_Ragu, what's wrong with you? NOT ONLY do you have a weird desire to kiss one of your best friends, you are actually contemplating taking advantage of him while he's unconscious._ And so on and so forth the litany went.

After a few minutes of reprimanding himself, Dias claimed down somewhat. Cautiously, he dared a peek at Kain sleeping form-and immediately regretted doing so when it brought to mind the velvet of Kain's lips when his fingers had brushed upon them. 

Dias immediately shut his eyes again and repeated his mental chant. So, um, preoccupied was the Black Wing that he didn't notice Kain groggily regain consciousness, and attempt to sit up such that Dias, who was still bent down, was right in front of him.

The inevitable happened. Black Wing, the enormously talented prodigy, and G, the young but still gifted Sevalle, became entangled with each other as Kain's leg tripped Dias up. What ensued was a rather incredulous scene as the two locked lips.

_This isn't half bad,_ Dias thought fleetingly, before morality complex number three, "thou shalt abstain", kicked in. He shot all the way to the other side of the room, while the young blond blinked blankly at him. 

"Nothing happened. Please tell me nothing happened." Hand over his eyes, Dias stumbled to his feet and went looking for the cup of tea, dumping half the sugar pot into the strong brown brew before his brain connected back to his logic systems again.

But nothing could have prepared him for the next, if tentative, comment that came from the other room.

"Well, that wasn't too bad."

The unfortunate teacup had the rest of the sugar pot, pot included, jammed into its overflowing mouth.

----

Kain was in a depressed mood. While his tastes in partners ran most definitely towards the feminine, there were some rare exceptions. Such as the Black Wing, Mister 'I'm such an innocent' Dias Ragu. 

Whoa. Scratch that. Dias didn't deserve such a compliment. Double whoa. Kain Phalanx, what are you thinking? Shame on you, shame on you.

That problem, dammit, was that the ever-so-moral Dias was AVOIDING him. And his best friend was, as usual, nowhere to be found conveniently; HE only appeared when: 1, he was looking for a drinking partner, 2, he had a problem, 3, he wanted to.

The sevalle shoved his golden hair out of his eyes with an exasperated snarl. Best friend or no best friend, he had two of the most infuriating acquaintances on the face of Kuruda- no, Ashlianna. And after he had helped so much in Vy Low's courtship of the Holy Knight! 

It was enough to drive an already stressed sevalle mad. (1)

No doubt Dias was avoiding him because of that little peck they had shared in the Black Wing's home, but how was anybody supposed to get rid of that troublesome thing called innocence when they couldn't even take a lip-touch?

With a frustrated and creative expletive, G launched himself out of bed, grabbed his cloak and headed out for the city, hoping that a chilly night walk on the citadel's highest water-tower would inspire him on what to do next.

----

(1)Which was eventually a very accurate prediction. Kain did eventually go crazy- but it wasn't all that permanent.

----

Will Kain ever get Dias in bed? Stay tuned!

Mata ne, 

Aki


	2. And The Unthinkable...

The Chase: chapter 2  
  
Prayer Unanswered  
  
The bitter cold of the lake air did nothing to inspire him. In fact, about the only thing he received was a dripping nose and chattering teeth.  
  
Pinching his nose shut with a scrap of kerchief (one of Scarface's I- have-this-habit-therefore-you-must-have-it-too ruboffs), Kain cursed, sneezed, and nearly bit his tongue.  
  
Dare he go see Dias in this condition? Not a chance! The sevalle sighed mournfully to himself as he jumped down the insanely high tower to a battlement far below. There would be a crater there, but, well, that was better than the thatched roof which would undoubtedly fly all apart when he landed on it.  
  
/View's great from up here,/ the 58th sevalle noted inanely around numb extremities, namely, his lips. /Wonder where I'm going to land. That spot over there looks good./ He adjusted his flight path just so.  
  
Very, very unfortunately (but very good for us readers) dear, dear Dias walked across that spot just as the blond dropped in. For the second time in their friendship, two teens went down in another frantic (and interesting) tangle of limbs, which mostly consisted of Kain trying to keep his nose covered and scramble away at the same time.  
  
Please note that if Kain's brain had not been half-frozen, he would have taken the open opportunity to get a hell lot more out of the awkward contact than Dias would have allowed- at first. However, while his chilled logic circuits were in control, the politeness reflex kicked in, and he backed away, apologizing profusely.  
  
Kain squeaked as Dias, prodding him with the flat of his Black Wing, knocked frozen sheets of slick frost from his clothes and hair. "G? You look like ice, man. And your nose doesn't look too good."  
  
The sevalle, whose brain was quickly becoming semi-slush, fuzzily blessed his lucky stars. Just the way to get Dias to get out of that urchin shell! Even if it did suck. However, those were the last, happy thoughts he had as fever struck in a dizzying rush, and the ground rushed up to meet him. He had a brief, blissful glimpse of Dias' concerned face before everything grew completely dark.  
  
----  
  
He was jolted into full, startled, consciousness by a semi-familiar chirpy voice oscillating up and down the vicinity of his head. "Niichan! Niichan! Niichan!"  
  
Mentally he groaned. He should have known. Dias would never do anything if it didn't have a meaning. However, if he didn't wake up soon, the kid would commence jumping up and down on his chest.  
  
Cracking one eye open, Kain growled the first thing that came to mind. Tried. However, there was just this little problem.  
  
His voice, by Scarface's drinking habit, was gone.  
  
Shiiiit.  
  
Elle peered into his face. "Niichan? Daijobu? Usually you say 'shut up brat' or something that that. Ne? Ne, niichan!"  
  
Oh, how he wished he could say exactly that to her. But all that emerged was a strangled creak, not even loud enough to be a croak. Hardly the kind of situation he liked. Especially with the brat by his head. A good sarcastic barrage would pop her cheery bubble, and he could have a few more hours of uninterrupted sleep while she went to sulk.  
  
No amount of silent snarling would have any effect on Elle, however, so he sat up, shook his head free of stars, and hit her- gently. Dias would most definitely be very annoyed if his precious bratling sustained any lasting harm.  
  
Thank the souma, the bratling took the hint and scooted. Kain retreated back into the blankets with a sigh of relief. If he was going to be sick, and Dias wasn't even going to act concerned, he might as well be sick in peace. Briefly, insanely, he contemplated ambushing Dias in bed on the context of getting warm.  
  
/Nope, wouldn't work./ About all he would receive was a thwap on the head with the flat of the Black Wing- the flat because he was sick, the Black Wing because Dias was currently recuperating from skinned knuckles. Kain muttered an epithet and covered his head with one of the sheets.  
  
A hand jerked them right off him. "Yoi, Phalanx! Heard you were sick." Right. There was a sinking feeling somewhere in the vicinity of his chest. He knew that voice by heart.  
  
He chanced a terrified peek over his shoulder, and immediately jerked both hands over his head. /Yappari./ Swallowing nervously, the younger man waited for the familiar acidic comment to make its appearance.  
  
Scarface grinned with just a trace of maliciousness. "Aha. The whelp was telling the truth after all. Cat got your tongue, Phalanx?"  
  
Kain started making strangled noises. A day alone with Vy Low at his worst and, furthermore, unable to rebut- it would be pure torture. Add on that Scarface-damn-him had no compunctions about bullying the helpless. Yeeeech. /Souma help me, help me please./  
  
It was his most unlucky day. Nobody showed up to rescue him, though he did hear some suspiciously childish laughter from the general direction of the window.  
  
----  
  
Author's note:  
  
I am trying to write a meaningful yaoi romance. But it's a bit hard because yaoi romances with meaning are almost nonexistent and I have nothing to cross-reference. Wah!  
  
Before I run off into a tangent, C&C are as usual warmly welcomed, and flames will be stuffed into the trash disposal (ie the Black Eye).  
  
Kain-kun is sooo cute. And Vy-kun is as usual unmellowed by marriage. (snicker) I pity my poor G. However, since I also pity my poor Dias, who suffers through so many clichés with the serenity of a martyr, I will at least try my level best to prevent a PWP lemon from springing up out of the blue. (crashing waves) Ikuzo, sekai e!  
  
Lunaris: I'll get going now.  
  
Oh no, Luna-chan. I still have a lot of things I want to discuss with you. Your present occupation among other things…  
  
(sounds of shrieking as a cackling writer drags her patron being off)  
  
Mata,  
  
Aki 


	3. Good Always Triumphs Over Evil

The Chase, chapter 3  
  
Good Triumphs over Evil (hey, wait...)  
  
Kain Phalanx was not in a happy mood. Besides losing his voice, he was also stuck with a evilly sharp-tongued Vy Low, and the ever-energetic Elle. Either one of them would have been a fate worse than death, he thought glumly to himself, too resigned to even scowl as Elle attempted to climb up his back. Hell must be something similar to this.   
  
"Say, Phalanx," Scarface said, grinning, "I heard from Ragu-"  
  
He had a REALLY bad feeling about this...  
  
"-you jumped him."  
  
The Ragu table suffered a quick and painful death as the invalid's hands crumpled through the flimsy wood. The sevalle, however, found himself dangling from Kain's outraged grip, and threatened silently with the icy power of two chilly blue eyes. "It was a joke!" he continued placatingly, putting his hands up in the universal gesture of 'I'm harmless, please let me go'. "Just a joke! What Ragu really said," he said a tad breathlessly, pulling the front of his shirt back into place, "was that you fell on him. From the... water towers."  
  
Rolling his eyes disgustedly, Kain shook his head and sat down on his stool- which promptly gave way. Studiously ignoring Elle's howls of laughter and his best friend's wide grin, he picked himself up, looked vaguely down at the splinters that littered the floor, and wandered off to bed. Scarface spent too much time being amused, because several moments later Elle's howls changed to an alarmed squeak and he found the Black Wing tapping his shoulder.  
  
Slowly, a feeling of dread weighing down his stomach, the Sevalle turned his head, his gaze travelling up the bent arc of the Black Wing, and meeting Dias Ragu's implacable aqua eyes. Elle was nowhere in sight, having wisely escaped out of the door. He was on the front line all by his little lonesome.   
  
"Kain did it," he offered uncertainly.  
  
"He is sick," Dias gritted out, pressing the sharp end of his weapon up against Vy Low's collar. "Sick people don't break people's tables! So give me back the cost of my table!"  
  
"H...hey, take it easy... it really wasn't me..."  
  
"And you DARE to DENY IT? My chair, too! RAPIER!"  
  
"YIKES!"  
  
Hiding under the covers, Kain heard the sounds of Scarface getting thwapped and grinned.  
  
**  
  
Over some weeks, Scarface lost the opportunity to bully Kain, because Crimson gave him work to do, somewhere on the southern border. This undoubtedly had something to do with Dias' little upset with the Sevalle over his dining table (and the chair), because the valle had Crimson's ear. One could never be too careful with Scarface, but it was in everyone's best interests to humor Dias. Not even Crimson had any wish to face the Black Wing- or, worse, Hachiyoh. So off the sevalle went, with an injured series of mutters that Crimson made out to be 'but it's not MY fault...'  
  
Kain got his voice back, though, just before Scarface left. And G was very, very happy.   
  
**  
  
"Why don't you SAY something," Vy Low growled, bristling under the younger sevalle's open smirk. "I wouldn't have to go to the godsforsaken back end of nowhere if you just opened your mouth and cleared up that misunderstanding..."  
  
If anything, G's smirk stretched wider. The 58th sevalle had 'aha!' written all over his smug expression. But he said nothing, probably because Dias was walking up to them, Elle in tow. Elle stuck her tongue out at the sevalle as he gave her an irritated look. Elle had not offered to clear up the misunderstanding, either. The law (and the anticipation of Dias' fury) protected her from the wrath of a misunderstood sevalle, or she would have been six feet under by then.   
  
The valle himself directed a reprimanding look at his sister, a nod of acknowledgement to G, who dryly saluted him, and a cold glare at Scarface, who scowled and held his ground. Scarface rarely backed down when someone challenged him openly. Rarely. (When his wife got on his case, though...) "I hope you earn back the cost of my household items," the Black Wing said quietly, sleet dripping from every word.   
  
Scarface's brows shot together in an exasperated scowl. "Why don't you believe me?"  
  
"This from the person who dumped G in my house and ran away?" Dias' look grew even scarier.  
  
Vy Low paled. Kain grinned. Elle chased a butterfly. And, tactfully, Crimson stepped in. "The ship will leave soon," the Raze Reme reminded them all with a thumb towards aforementioned ship. "Scarface, I suggest you go quickly so that you can come back soon. And Kain?" G swiveled round to his senior, still grinning. "Please stop grinning like that. It's disturbing."  
  
"'Cuse me," Kain replied jovially, taking the opportunity to throw one arm over Dias' stiff shoulders. "You shouldn't get so worked up, Ragu. It's not good for your body."   
  
"You should talk!" Scarface snarled, turning on his heel with an outraged swish of his short cloak. His indignant outburst subsided into injured mumbling at Crimson's stern look, and the high sevalle retreated with his skin, if not his pride, intact. Smirking triumphantly at the resounding defeat dealt to his erstwhile opponent, the blond nudged Dias into turning, and started to drag him towards the heart of the city.   
  
Crimson snagged Elle's collar as she skipped past him, seemly intent on following Scarface onto his ship. "Where are you to going off to?" he demanded, lifting her up, kicking and squalling like a kitten. "Dias? Kain?"  
  
Kain waved a hand without turning. "Where else? To my favorite tavern, of course."  
  
Dias' voice was faintly resigned. "Crimson, please take care of Elle for a while." Then the both turned the corner, and Crimson sighed, letting Elle scramble up onto his shoulders. Kain got his way most of the time, and exactly how he did it was a mystery to friend and sevalle alike. The Raze Reme took hold of Elle's little legs before she managed to kick him, and headed off towards his own residence. Hopefully he could keep her occupied for a decent amount of time before she escaped his town house...  
  
****  
  
If I had a dollar for every time I got a new idea, I'd be rich by now... but not every idea can grow into a story, and that's part of the reason why this chapter took so long to produce. Sorry about the CAPITAL LETTERS. Notepad doesn't do italics.   
  
Grumbling about the dusty shelves,  
  
Akishira  
  
PS:  
  
Scarface: HEY! What do you mean, Good Triumphs over Evil? Since when is Phalanx on the side of Good?  
  
Aki: Since I decided he was more bishounen than you.  
  
Scarface: What does that have to do with anything?  
  
Aki: Nothing really. But I couldn't think of a better title. Sorry.  
  
(sounds of screaming as martial language is invoked) *_* 


End file.
